Sell landlord’s properties ASAP, city urges judge
A JOURNAL SENTINEL WATCHDOG UPDATE
In a bid to force Elijah Mohammad Rashaed out of the Milwaukee central city rental business immediately, the city is asking a judge to cite the notorious landlord for contempt and order that officials sell his Milwaukee properties.
Ordering the properties sold is the only solution that could end the neverending battle between the city, which has been trying to force Rashaed out of the rental business here for more than a year, and the disgraced landlord, the city contends.
“The court should expect similar future contemptuous behavior from Rashaed regardless of any order of the court,” Kail Decker, assistant city attorney, wrote in a motion. “Any other conclusion would be based on hope in spite of past conduct.”
In addition, the court-appointed property manager who has been tasked with running the Rashaed operation since April is also asking that Rashaed be found in contempt. The manager is asking that Rashaed be jailed or fined $1,000 for each violation of the court’s order that stripped him of control of his central city rental empire.
Both motions charge that Rashaed, 49, who now lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, has repeatedly interfered with the operations of the properties even though they were placed in a virtual receivership in April.
The order by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro named Peter Ogden, president of Ogden & Co., property manager, giving his firm the power to collect rents, repair properties and lease out units. Rashaed no longer receives revenue from the 157 properties housing about 300 rental units, the bulk of which target low-income people as tenants.
Regardless, Rashaed “has contacted numerous tenants and directed them to not pay the property manager as required in the (Yamahiro) order,” Ogden attorney Joseph Newbold wrote. “Consequently, tenants have either paid rent directly to Mr. Rashaed or have refused to pay rent to” Ogden.
Tenant testimonials
Ogden’s motion included a dozen signed declarations from tenants stating they had been told by Rashaed or one of his employees to either not pay rent to Ogden and/or not to allow Ogden workers into their homes. Some said Rashaed offered to sell their homes to them in rent-toown transactions. The city has objected to those deals, arguing that Rashaed or his affiliates would finance the transactions.
Rashaed even tried to sell one of his properties to a limited liability company owned by his son, even though the court order requires that all sales be approved by the court, Decker wrote.
After attempting to transfer the property on West Highland Boulevard to his son’s company, Rashaed told Debra Stephens, a tenant, “to cancel the check I had written to Ogden for rent for the month of July and to write a new check to his son,” according to a statement signed by Stephens that is attached to the motion.
Decker’s motion argues if Ogden is ordered to sell the properties then “Rashaed will no longer be able to develop schemes to take advantage of unwary tenants by using inflated prices and seller financing,” Decker wrote. “He will also no longer be able to transfer properties to friends or relatives for discounted prices (while rejecting reasonable offers) so he can continue managing them from behind the scenes.”
Rashaed’s lawyer, David Halbrooks, declined to comment, saying he would not talk to a Journal Sentinel reporter.
Long effort to oust landlord
The city has been trying to push Rashaed out of the central city rental business since March 2017, when it warned Rashaed to bring his properties up to code or risk having them placed in receivership.
Several rounds of legal maneuvering and delays ended this past April when Yamahiro issued his order, which Halbrooks is appealing.
In March 2017, there were 269 city orders citing 1,007 building code violations against properties owned by Rashaed or companies linked to the slumlord.
Newbold said Ogden’s staff is still working to repair the properties.
“We have been to able triage the worst properties that were occupied,” Newbold said. “We’re working through years and years of a lack of attention and quality maintenance.”
Court hearings in the case have been contentious.
In an unusual move, on July 23 Halbrooks wrote Yamahiro a letter that criticized the judge’s handling of the case and asked him to recuse himself from it. The letter became moot on Aug. 4 when Yamahiro was rotated off the case in the regular rotation of judges.
Though Rashaed is the central character in the courtroom drama it is unknown whether he will show up when the motions are scheduled to be argued on Tuesday before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Conen.
Process servers have tried to serve Rashaed “numerous times at his residence in a gated community in West Palm Beach but have not been able to serve him,” Newbold said, noting that Halbrooks has received copies of the summonses.
“We absolutely sent multiple” summonses to Halbrooks, Newbold said.
Decker argued that Halbrooks’ letter to Yamahiro supports the city and Ogden’s contention that Conen can act on the motions Tuesday. In his letter, Halbrooks said his client has not been served with a summons, though he notes that Rashaed is concerned that “the court has ordered that he appear for contempt motions.”
Regardless, Halbrooks wrote that Rashaed may not show up because of the city’s motion asking that the landlord be jailed.
“Mr. Rashaed fears appearing before the court,” Halbrooks wrote, arguing Rashaed cannot be ordered to return to Wisconsin “to appear without notice.”
Decker countered that Halbrooks’ letter actually supports the city’s contention that Conen could act on the contempt motion even if Rashaed does not show up.
While Halbrooks’ letter “contains outlandish comments and undeveloped arguments, ... (it) does contain some relevant information: Rashaed has actual notice of the city’s contempt motion,” Decker wrote. “As a result, the court can conduct a hearing on that motion and rule on it.”